The Beach
by bellatrixD
Summary: Selene and Fred visit a beach in France, their first holiday in far too long. Selene makes a new lifelong friend and Fred...embarrasses himself. OC from chocolatecheesecakes Unconditionally.


_Happy belated birthday Ellie (chocolatecheesecakes)!_

_This worked out much better in my head. I have no idea what happened. I apologise. _

_Little one-shot fluffy thing involving her OC from Unconditionally (READ IT) Selene and Fred Weasley with a little surprise visit from two non-OC's. I hope I've done Selene and your Fred justice! _

* * *

The Beach

* * *

Was it just her or did sunglasses make no significant difference when worn other than making her vision worse? She thought, stepping into another sandcastle and sending another child bursting into tears.

"Sorry," Selene murmured, her overly large hat and sunglasses shielding her flushed face.

Fred chuckled and tugged on her hand harder. She managed to dodge several sunbathing people and families when Fred stopped abruptly, Selene walking into his warm, naked back.

"Oi, watch it you," Fred said. "I reckon this spot's good, what do you think?"

"Yes, yes, it's fine," Selene said, rubbing her nose.

"You didn't even look."

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it does! This is where we'll be cuddling for the afternoon. You don't want it to be anywhere near the sharks now, do you?"

Selene sighed and glared at a tinted Fred, his features blurred and indistinct through the dark of her sunglasses.

He paid her no mind, flinging down his bag and rolling out a blanket.

"Alright, suit yourself," he said, straightening the bright green blanket (dull brown in Selene's eyes) and taking out the bottle of sun lotion. "But don't come crying to me when a shark decides to pop out for a visit and bite your leg off."

"You're hilarious."

"It's in the job description."

The blanket ready, Fred flopped down, spreading his arms and legs like a starfish and closed his eyes, soaking up the sweet smells and radiant rays from the sun that only the beach could offer. He had been to France only a handful of times before but never could find a spare moment to marvel in the pleasure the country had to bring. One thing he had already ticked off Selene's list – his own addition to her list of practical sightseeing and other tourism adventures: fantastic sex in a fancy hotel. Several times, he added to himself, smirking under the shadow of Selene, the red gradient behind his eyelids fading.

"D'you mind, love? You're blocking the sun a tad," he said.

She kicked him lightly in the ribs.

"You're hogging the blanket."

"So it seems."

"Well where am I meant to sit?"

Fred's eye opened to a slit and roamed down his body, glittering with sand and beads of water.

"There's plenty of room."

Even with the obstruction to her fantastic blue eyes Fred could see them roll, the huff of her chest and the slight tinge of pink covering her cheeks, the features he loved so much. Her long hair whipped around her head, creating the image of a halo with golden light encircling her silhouette. Before another thought entered his mind he gasped as a weight fell on his stomach.

"You were right, this spot isn't too bad," Selene said, taking off her ridiculously big hat and freeing her long hair. "You done with this?"

The bottle of lotion was snatched off the blanket and Selene proceeded to squirt it into her hand and rub it on her bare arms and legs, her sundress riding up her legs a bit. It was enough for Fred to forget how to breathe momentarily. Once she finished her legs she rubbed her neck and chest. Fred sat up instantly and Selene fell off him.

"Fred!"

He scrambled for the bottle and pulled Selene into his lap, making her admonish him again.

"What are you doing? This is a family beach!"

"Relax, love," he said, "I just thought I'd help you get your back done. Don't want you getting a sun burn now, do we?"

Her brown hair was gently thrown over her shoulder and the contrast between the warm hands applying the cold moisture to the skin on her back in soothing motions was heavenly. She had to force herself not to lean back into his touch. Closing her eyes, she allowed the whooshing of the sea, the giggling children, Fred's hands and the sun to wash over her senses. It had been a long time since they had no worries, no stresses and no commitments. It was just them and a beach, and later on the hotel again…

Her strap was lowered down her arm and she snapped out of her blissful peace.

"Fred!"

"What?" he said through his chuckles. "I don't want you getting burnt!"

"I was covered there," she said, pulling her strap back up and moving off of Fred.

"Just making sure. Can't have you being all feeble and weak on our holiday from too much sun."

Fred resumed his position on the blanket but was forced to only take up half, Selene sitting beside him, his arms behind his head. They were quiet, each busy with their own relaxation. Selene had tied her hair back to keep it out of her face as she read a muggle book, something about prejudice against skin colour and a court case over an accusation of a black man hurting a white woman. She mentally scoffed at each racist profanity used, raging inside at the barbarity of the characters. It reminded her of the differentiation between purebloods and muggle borns, the time in her life that changed her so drastically in ways she could never before have imagined. A stoke on her knee.

"What?" she said, her eyes fixed on the page. The stroking persisted and Selene slammed her book shut. "What, Fred?"

He smiled a cute, innocent smile. "What you doing?"

"I _was_ reading."

He opened his arms wide. "Come."

"Is that what you wanted? Then, no."

She opened her book and her eyes flittered down the page and along the words she had already read, wondering how long she would be able to read for this time without any interruption. Finding the line she was on, she continued.

Her peace was disturbed three pages later when Fred pulled off her sunglasses.

Looking down at him, she saw her large sunglasses place upside down on his face, his tongue poking out and an ice cream cone in his hand.

"You look ridiculo – where did you get that?"

Fred grinned and peered over the glasses. "This deliciously, ice cold ice cream? Why, magic, of course."

"Shh! And besides, you can't summon food with magic."

"I know," he said, and took a large lick of the frozen dairy. His nose poked into the swirl and a decent amount of whiteness covered the tip.

"So how did you…? You didn't."

"Yup."

"You didn't!"

"I did."

"Fred!"

"I'm George."

"Fred Weasley who did you steal that ice cream from?"

He sat up, facing Selene.

"Darling. How could you think so lowly of me? Me!" the sunglasses were swung off his face and he used his free hand to cover his eyes, feigning tears. "Why, I'm wounded! So hurt, love. M-my heart, it…it _hurts._"

"Fred."

No longer playing a façade he offered Selene his ice cream.

"I didn't, honest. I saw a guy walking past with two and asked if he could give me one to share with you." At Selene's scepticism he continued. "He didn't give it over straight away, duh, but when he realised he could share his with his girlfriend then he relented. Easy. No stealing. Fred good boy. Lick."

Ice cream coated her lips, obstructing her mouth from opening unless she wanted her teeth to go numb from the cold. She pushed him back and licked her lips.

"Who was he? You can't take food from strangers, Fred."

"It was him, that tall, dashing bloke with the orange glasses," he said, pointing to a man not far from them.

There were no other people between them so Selene had no trouble finding him. The man looked strangely similar to Fred, only taller and slimmer with brown hair instead of red, wearing swimming trunks and orange framed sunglasses. He stood opposite a girl sitting on a blanket, her feet covered in flip flops. The man held out an object pointed to the woman as she licked on the ice cream. When her eyes met his, she glared. He smirked.

"What's that?" Fred asked, watching the pair.

"I don't know. I remember reading about one once –"

"Of course."

"– and I think I may have seen one earlier…" Selene squinted at the blue object in his hand, the shape odd looking to her. It was the way the man held it that looked familiar. Ever so slowly, Selene pieced the object and the information in her mind together and gasped, shaking Fred's arm. "Fred! That's a gun!"

"What's a gun? I think dad told us about them once…isn't it a muggle drink?"

"No, no – a _gun._ You're thinking of rum. That's a weapon, Fred. It can kill her!"

His eyes widened and they were on their feet in seconds, running at the pair, their fingers itching to reach for their wands.

They were too late. The man grinned maliciously and pushed his finger on the trigger, shooting the woman directly in the face. She screamed.

"James!" she yelled, her hand wiping at the moisture on her face.

The man laughed and squirted her again and again.

"You're not going in the water with me, what am I supposed to do?"

Fred and Selene stopped just before them, watching the interaction with open mouths.

"Didn't you say that thing kills?" Fred whispered, but Selene could not respond.

"I don't like the sand, you know that. Why did you bring us to the beach anyway? What was wrong with the…the zoo, or a park or something?" the woman said, standing up, allowing the sun to dry her clothes.

"Because the beach is fun. And we're only here for a few days, I wanted to show you their ice cream."

She growled under her breath and then smiled up at her boyfriend. "It is rather nice ice cream." He grinned in response. "How about I show you some ice cream, now?"

A frown tugged on his lips and then coldness touched his head and dripped down his face.

"Goop head!" Fred yelled out, laughing. The noise attracted the couple's attention to them.

"Cheers, Ellie," James said, swiping the melting ice cream from his face and flung it at her. He turned back to Fred. "Alright, mate?"

"That was bloody brilliant. What's that thing you were shooting?"

"A water gun. Ellie refuses to come swimming with me – doesn't like the sand touching her feet, the weirdo – so I made sure to bring this along."

James offered it to Fred who accepted it enthusiastically, turning it over in his hands to inspect the details, no doubt thinking of a variation he could make and sell in the shop. Hesitantly, he pressed the trigger and watched the water shoot up. He grinned, pointing the end of the barrel to Selene and shooting her in the face.

"Fred, really!" she couldn't help but laugh, the water cooling her skin.

"Love you," he winked.

"Your girlfriend?" James asked.

"My one and only," Fred swung his arm around Selene's neck and kissed her. "Your bird?"

"Yep, this is Ellie."

His girlfriend stepped beside him, their difference in height highly amusing. Fred snorted, hiding it with a low bow. Lifting her hand to his lips, he placed a kiss on the back of it and winked.

"Smashing to meet you, Ellie. I must say what a gorgeous woman you are."

She blushed under his gaze. Selene rolled her eyes and extracted her hand from Fred's and shook it.

"Don't mind him, he's a bit…challenged. I'm Selene."

"Hello! This is James. Wait, you already know that. Sorry," she pushed her curly hair behind her ear and smiled as James put his arm over her shoulders and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"English? Nice. Didn't expect to see any of you buggers here."

"God above, help me," Selene mumbled. Fred pinched her bum.

"Holiday?" James asked.

"Yup. First one in…a year? What about you guys?"

"I'm here for work and brought Ellie along. We're leaving tomorrow."

"Then we must have drinks!" Fred said, brown eyes gleaming. "We went to this great place the other day, best cocktails."

And so, Fred led the group to a bar not too far from the beach, Selene's expression apologetic every time Fred said something silly or stopped to imitate a mime. Several times she had to pull him away from bakeries, the aroma of fresh bread and cakes alluring him, but could not resist stopping at a bakery on James' insistence, and nibbled on éclairs and croissants.

Ellie and Selene got on splendidly well, conversing about literature and music, their companionship growing stronger with every common interest. Ellie was much shorter than Selene, and she often found herself leaning closer to hear her properly despite her loud voice.

The earlier bond between the boys, however, seemed to wane somewhat. Fred continued to refer to James as Jamie regardless of his objections to the name. He failed to remember the concepts of muggle sports and the alcohol affected him a lot quicker, initiating secrets of wizards and witches before their very eyes, except they didn't have green skin, boils or cackling laughs, but there were some who had an uncanny resemblance to toads and ladybugs. He always burst out laughing after every new bit of information, frightening James with his odd behaviour. Selene chuckled nervously, knowing that any attempt to stop Fred would only result in him brandishing his wand.

James asked for a game of darts, in which Fred spun around and threw it at a French lady. He giggled and pointed at her bum where the dart protruded dead in the middle. Selene had finally had enough, apologised for his reckless behaviour ("It's fine, a lot of people get drunk in the afternoon," James had said, although his eyes were conveying a different message to Ellie) and said goodbye.

"Maybe I'll see you in England, one day," Selene said to Ellie.

"Yes! We should plan a day out. We can eat pizza and skittles and watch Doctor Who. Oh! I work in this amazing book store which I'm sure you would love," Ellie said, passing her address over to Selene, written on a chocolate smeared napkin.

"I can't wait, I'll get back to you," Selene smiled, excited to have made a muggle friend with whom she could explore the muggle world with. Doctor Who sounded so fascinating to her, the time travelling over centuries, to different planets, offering a wider range of exploration than a time turner ever could.

Fred hung off her shoulder, his drool gathering at the corner of his mouth.

"Bye, Selene, nice to meet you," James said, offering a peck on the cheek. He eyed Fred. "Is he alright?"

"Yes, like I said before, just a bit challenged. Don't mind him."

"Alright then. Best wishes to you."

Fred awoke moments later, the impact from his head slamming down on a table jarring him to consciousness.

"Wha – Who – Where, wha' happened?" he slurred.

Selene stood before him, arms crossed. "You utter embarrassment."

He smiled sheepishly. The sky tinged pink in its twilight and the heat from before had died down, washed away by the cool breeze, sobering Fred. Selene's dress fluttered and her hair caught in her face. Fred felt an internal warmth pass through him, mesmerised by his beauty.

"Sorry?"

"You're lucky I love you. Come on, let's have dinner at the hotel, my feet are killing me."

Hands intertwined and fingers locked, Selene and Fred walked down the streets of France. They passed the beach, and with a tug on her hand, Fred made a detour on squishy, soft sand.

"Does this make up for it?" Fred asked, his arms wrapped around Selene's middle as they stood staring out at the endless sea. His lips trailed down her face and nibbled on her ear, his arms squeezing her softly, pressing her into him.

"I wasn't angry in the first place."

"I can be romantic."

"I never said you couldn't."

"Selene Weasley."

He turned her face towards him and kissed her.

"My Selene Weasley."

She bit her lip and nuzzled her head into his neck more.

"You're the perfect height," he blurted out randomly in his Fred Weasley way.

"Ok?"

"Yup." His nose rubbed against her neck. "How do you think James and Ellie kiss? Doesn't he get sore leaning down so much?"

"You can be such a…such a git sometimes," Selene swatted his arm. He bit her neck.

"It was a genuine question! They look nice though."

"Too bad you scared them off from ever wanting to see you again."

"Hm. Ellie was cute."

He didn't have to be facing her to see her amused expression. It was what he loved about her: he could flirt shamelessly with other women but his Selene never took it to heart, she knew she was the only one for him. He could not ask for anyone better.

"James was handsome."

"You never know, he could be my twin."

"Don't say that in front of George, he'd think you were looking for a replacement."

Cold air blew past them and shivers ran through them.

"As much as I love this romantic scene you've created, I think we should go to the hotel," Selene said,

"Indeed, my love," Fred placed a final kiss on her lips, lingering for what seemed to be forever but teasing her for the forthcoming night's events with his tongue.

They were hit by a cold substance and broke apart. Sand. They were covered in sand. A boy no older than seven glared up at them, an empty bucket by his side, his small chubby hands balled up into fists.

"You broke my sandcastle!"


End file.
